UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas — The National Coalition of Associations of 7-Eleven Franchisees (NCASEF) recently elected new officers, including Sukhvinder (Sukhi) Sandhu as chairman, Joe Rossi as executive vice chairman and Romy Singh as treasurer.
Sandu succeeds south Texas franchisee Jay Singh, who has held the position since 2017. Rossi succeeds Florida franchise owner Michael Jorgensen, and Romy Singh succeeds California franchisee Jaspreet Dhillon.
NCASEF, which represents more than 7,400 7-Eleven franchised convenience stores in the United States, held elections for the three officer positions during its fourth-quarter board meeting in the fall, the organization said. The new officers assumed their positions on Jan. 1, and they will serve two-year terms. Founded in 1973, Universal City, Texas-based NCASEF is made up of 41 separate independent franchise owner associations with more than 4,400 7-Eleven operators as members.
“At this time, the national coalition is not making any public comments about internal business,” Matt Ellis, president of Boston-based Ellis Strategies, the public relations firm representing NCASEF, told CSP Daily News.
Serving as NCASEF chairman “has been one of the highlights of my career as a franchisee,” Jay Singh said in an article in coalition publication Avanti and posted on the group’s website. “Since the time I joined my local FOA [franchise owners association] many years ago, I recognized the importance of having an organization that unites franchisees so they can share their knowledge and experience, as well as engage with our franchisor in one voice to express our issues and work on solutions,” he said.
“I wish the best of luck to the new executive officers and their communication efforts with [7-Eleven Inc.],” he said. “I hope they are successful in changing the terms of the franchise agreement to benefit both parties and improve franchisees’ bottom lines.”
During Jay Singh’s tenure, NCASEF and franchisor 7-Eleven Inc. have had a contentious relationship over issues including the franchise rule, staffing, hours, pandemic support, the new franchise agreement and more. NCASEF maintains that 7-Eleven Inc. “is not putting franchisee interests first” and has called for corporate leadership change.
“7-Eleven is proud of its comprehensive, ongoing two-way communication with franchisees,” 7-Eleven Inc. said in a 2020 statement provided to CSP Daily News in response to NCASEF’s ongoing stated issues and allegations. “We have always been a franchise-centric business and have been recognized as a leader in the retail space and among franchisors. This is because of our belief that collaboratively working with our franchisees always leads to improved performance.”
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises or licenses more than 77,700 stores in 19 countries and regions, including about 9,500 in the United States under the 7-Eleven banner, about 3,800 under the Speedway banner and about 500 under the Stripes flag, as well as the Laredo Taco Company and Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits brands. 7-Eleven is No. 1on CSP’s 2022 Top 40 Update to the 2021 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2022 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine.
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